M&M's (styled as m&m's) are "colorful button-shaped chocolates"[1] produced by Mars, Incorporated. The candy shell, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case on one side, surrounds a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M's. The original candy had a milk chocolate filling which, upon introducing other variations, was branded as the "plain" variety. "Peanut" M&M's, which feature a peanut coated in milk chocolate, and finally a candy shell, were the first variation to be introduced, and they remain a regular variety. Numerous other variations have been introduced, some of which are regular widespread varieties (such as "peanut butter", "almond", "pretzel", "crispy", and "dark chocolate"), while others are limited in duration or geographic availability.

M&M's originated in the United States in 1941, and are now sold in as many as 100 countries.[1] More than 400 million individual M&M's are produced every day in the United States.[2][3] They are produced in different colors, some of which have changed over the years. The candy-coated chocolate concept was inspired by a method used to allow soldiers to carry chocolate without having it melt. The company's longest-lasting slogan reflects this: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."

Forrest Mars, Sr., son of the Mars Company founder, Frank C. Mars, copied the idea for the candy in the 1930s during the Spanish Civil War when he saw soldiers eating British made Smarties, chocolate pellets with a colored shell of what confectioners call hard panning (essentially hardened sugar syrup) surrounding the outside, preventing the candies from melting. Mars received a patent for his own process on March 3, 1941.[6] Production began in 1941 in a factory located at 285 Badger Avenue in Clinton Hill, Newark, New Jersey. When the company was originally founded it was M&M Limited.[7] The two "Ms" represent the names of Forrest E. Mars Sr., the founder of Newark Company, and Bruce Murrie, son of Hershey Chocolate's president William F. R. Murrie, who had a 20 percent share in the product.[8] The arrangement allowed the candies to be made with Hershey chocolate, as Hershey had control of the rationed chocolate at the time.[9]

The demand for the candies during World War II caused an increase in production and its factory moved to bigger quarters at 200 North 12th Street in Newark, New Jersey, where it remained until 1958 when it moved to a bigger factory at Hackettstown. During the war, the candies were exclusively sold to the military.[10]

Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954.

Peanut butter M&M's. (Not to be confused with Peanut M&Ms)

In 1950, a black "M" was imprinted on the candies giving them a unique trademark. It was changed to white in 1954.[7]

In the early 1950s, the Midwest Research Institute (now MRIGlobal) in Kansas City, Missouri, worked on behalf of M&M's to perfect a process whereby 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg) of chocolate centers could be coated every hour.[11]

Peanut M&M's were introduced in 1954, but first appeared only in the color tan. They were debuted at the same time as the tagline "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." In 1960, M&M's added the yellow, red, and green colors.

in 1976, orange was added to the M&M rainbow to replace red, which was discontinued due to the red dye scare over Red Dyes #2 and #4 having been evaluated to be carcinogenic in nature. In spite of the fact that M&M's had used the less controversial Red Dye #40, the public was wary of any food being dyed red. Red M&M's were re-introduced in 1987.

In the 1980s, M&M's were introduced internationally to Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom.[12]

Although they were marketed and then withdrawn in the 1960s, almond-centered M&M's hit stores again in 1988 in limited release, with appearances only during Christmas and Easter times; they became a standard part of the product line in 1992.

Also in 1986, M&M's launched Holidays Chocolate Candies for Easter and Christmas, with the Easter candies having bunny, chick, and egg symbols on pastel-colored shells, and the Christmas candies having pine tree, bell, and candle symbols on red and green shells; with the latter also having a special mint flavor. By 1993, the holiday symbols were replaced with the standard trademark "M".

In 1991, Peanut Butter M&M's were released. These candies have peanut butter inside the chocolate center and the same color scheme as the other varieties. As of at least 2013, the size of the peanut butter M&M has become slightly smaller.

In 1995, tan M&Ms were discontinued to be replaced by blue.

In 1996, Mars introduced "M&M's Minis", smaller candies usually sold in plastic tubes instead of bags.[13]

In 1999, Crispy M&M's were released. They were slightly larger than the milk chocolate variety and also featured a crispy wafer center. They were discontinued in the United States in 2005, and remained available in Europe, and Southeast Asia. In January 2015, they returned to production in the United States.

In 2010, Pretzel M&M's were released. They contain a crunchy, salty pretzel center inside of the chocolate coating and are about the same size as the Peanut M&M's, but their shape tends to be more spherical.

In 2013, the M&M's chocolate bar was re-released. It was originally released in 2004, and named M-Azing.

In 2014, Mega M&M's were re-introduced. Before then, the 'Mega M&M's' had been released in 2007 promoting the Shrek Movies, being dubbed "Ogre Sized M&M's."

In 2015, Crispy M&M's were re-introduced in the United States. They had remained available continuously in Europe and Australia.

In 2016, the M&M cookie was re-introduced in the United States.

Also in 2016, the M&M's flavor vote was created in which the fans could vote for either honey, coffee, or chili nut M&M's to go with peanut M&M's. Coffee Nuts was announced as the winner by VEEP's Tony Hale[16]

Over the years, marketing has helped build and expand the M&M's brand. Computer-animated graphics, personification of the candies as characters with cartoon-like storytelling, and various merchandising techniques including the introduction of new flavors, colors and customizable merchandise have helped to increase the brand's recognition as a candy icon.

In 1982, the Mars candy bar company rejected the inclusion of M&M's in the new Steven Spielberg movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Competitor Hershey, on the other hand, took a chance with their Reese's Pieces, which is similar to M&M's but contains a peanut butter filling, and with the blockbuster success its candy sales dramatically increased, perhaps by as much as 300%.[18]

In 1990, M&M's exhibited at New York's Erie County Fair a life-size fiberglass cow covered with 66,000 M&M candies—each adhered by hand with the "m" logo on each candy facing outward. According to a website run by the cow's designer, Michael Adams, the stunt earned M&M Mars $1 million in free publicity because it was reported on by Newsweek magazine, as well as the New York Post, UPI and WABC-TV, and Live with Regis.[19]

In 1995, the company ran the M&M's Color Campaign, a contest in which participants were given the choice of selecting purple, blue, or pink as the color of a new variety of M&M's. The announcement of the winning color (blue) was carried on most of the television networks' news programs as well as the talk shows of David Letterman and Jay Leno.[20] As part of the contest results, the company had the Empire State Building lighted in blue.[20] Although the financial details of these deals were not disclosed and neither was the campaign's effect on sales, one marketing book estimated that the company "collected millions" in free publicity and that the campaign "certainly" resulted in an increasing of the brand's awareness.[20]

In 1998, M&M's were styled as "The Official Candy of the New Millennium," as MM is the Roman numeral for 2000. This date was also the release of the rainbow M&M's, which are multi-colored and filled with a variety of different fillings.

In 2000, "Plain" M&M's (a name created in 1954 when "Peanut" M&M's were introduced) were renamed "Milk Chocolate" M&M's, and pictures of the candy pieces were added to the traditional brown and white packaging.[21]

The introduction of the blue M&M to Australia was promoted by the Australian Football League's Carlton Football Club, which wore sky-blue colored guernseys in one of its matches in 1997 instead of its traditional navy blue – a color which the successful and fiercely traditional club had worn since the 1870s.[22] In 2010, Mars Snackfood Australia described it as the most successful promotional campaign it had ever engaged in.[23]

In May 2004, M&M's ran a Shrek 2 promotion to tie in with the movie's release. M&M's were offered "ogre-sized" (65% larger) in swamp/ogre colors. They were sold at many stores displayed in huge cardboard-cutout ogre displays.

In the summer of 2005, Mars added "Mega M&M's" to the lineup.[24] These candies, at 55% larger than the traditional M&M's, were a little smaller than the ogre-sized version. They were available in milk chocolate and peanut varieties. The colors for Mega M&M's were changed to less-bright colors, ostensibly to appeal to older consumers: teal (replacing green), beige (replacing orange), maroon (replacing red), gold (replacing yellow), blue-gray (replacing blue), and brown.

In July 2006, Dark Chocolate M&M's reappeared in a purple package, followed in 2007 by Dark Chocolate Peanut M&M's. Also in 2006, the company piloted White Chocolate M&M's as a tie-in with their Pirates of the Caribbean promotion. The company also offered eight new flavors of M&M's via online sales, as well as at M&M's World locations: "All That Razz"; "Eat, Drink, & Be Cherry"; "A Day at the Peach"; "Orange-U-Glad"; "Mint Condition"; "AlmonDeeLicious"; "Nut What You Think" and "Cookie Monster". Mars also released a "Crispy Mint" variety in Australia that year.

Also in 2007, M&M's produced a 50-foot, smiling Lady Liberty M&M statue to kick off a campaign encouraging Americans to create their own M&M characters at mms.com. The website allows for people to log in and create their own character from scratch. They can choose features such as the color, shape, hair and accessories.

M&M's also introduced another new product called "M&M's Premiums" in 2008. They come in five flavors – chocolate almond, mint chocolate, mocha, raspberry almond, and triple chocolate (milk, dark, and white chocolate), which are sold in small upright cartons with a plastic bag inside. M&M's Premiums do not have a candy shell but are coated with carnauba wax and color. Dark Chocolate was added in 2009, replacing Mocha.

During the summer of 2008, My M&M's launched 'Faces,' which allows consumers to print the faces of loved ones on M&M's chocolate candies at mymms.com.

In February 2009, M&M's launched the "M&M’s Colour Break-Up" promotion in Australia where M&M's were sold in separate packs (one for each color): the packs included a code to win prizes.[25]

In Summer 2009, M&M's launched a limited-edition "Strawberried Peanut Butter" variant to tie in with the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. In addition, M&M's launched a limited edition "Coconut M&M's," which became a permanent item in 2010.

In early 2010, M&M's Bare All were released as part of a competition in Australia and New Zealand.[26] M&M's Bare All winning packs were ordinary M&M's, but without colored shells. An official website was launched, along with television advertisements.[citation needed] In April 2010, M&M's launched a new pretzel variety.[27]

In November 2011, Mars released M&M's Cinnamon Milk Chocolate for Christmas.

About the time pretzel M&M's came out, the M&M's wrapper designs in the U.S. were redone, from the old design, used from 2004-early 2010.

In 2012, M&M's released two new Dark Chocolate flavors: Raspberry and Mint. Also that year, M&M's released a White Chocolate flavor for the Easter season. From May 30, 2012 onwards, M&M's will be launched in Macau. Its Macanese launch language is Portuguese. In 2012, Peanut M&M's were produced in the UK in a limited edition "Red, White and Blues only" pack, in connection with the country's Diamond Jubilee and 2012 Summer Olympics. The trademark 'M' remains white on the white candies. The commercial promoting this promotional package had Yellow donning various outfits of British stereotypes to try to get into the limited edition pack. Simarly, to promote the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Peanut M&M's were produced in a pack that contained only green, yellow, and blue candies, dubbed "Brazilian M&M's" in reference to the colors of the flag of Brazil. "Brazilian M&M's" were re-released in 2016 to promote the 2016 Summer Olympics, but are now available in both Chocolate and Peanut.

In 2013, M&M's launched the "Better with M" campaign, which included cause-related marketing. The campaign worked with Habitat for Humanity and encouraged fans to use a Facebook app to volunteer at the various sites where the homes were being built.[28] The advertising campaign was one of the largest that Mars had ever executed.[28] The 2013 "America Better With M" initiative sough to provide money directly to Habitat for Humanity through offering limited versions of M&Ms in red, white and blue.

Early black-and-white adverts for the candy in 1954 featured two talking, anthropomorphic M&M characters - one plain and one peanut - diving into a swimming pool full of chocolate.[29]

Concurrent with 1995's blue M&M campaign, M&M's introduced computer animated "spokescandies" in their television commercials. The depiction and campaign of the M&M's were made by Will Vinton in 1995. Vinton was formally known for his claymation on The California Raisins Band in 1986. Around the time he worked on CGI Projects, he made the depiction of the M&M's as more mature than most food mascots. These include the team of the cynical and sardonicRed (originally voiced by Jon Lovitz, thereafter Billy West[30]) who is the mascot for milk chocolate, peanut butter, and crispy M&M's, and the happy and gullibleYellow (originally voiced by John Goodman, thereafter J.K. Simmons), who is the mascot for peanut M&M's (he was originally known as "Peanut" when first introduced). Other mascots include the "cool one", Blue (voiced by Phil Hartman until his death in 1998, thereafter Robb Pruitt) who is the mascot for almond M&M's; the seductive Green (voiced by Cree Summer), who is the mascot for both dark chocolate mint and peanut butter M&M's, and the slightly neuroticOrange real name Crispy (voiced by Eric Kirchberger), who was introduced when Crispy M&M's were first released and returned when Pretzel M&M's debuted in 2010. Orange, upon his return, was joined by the second non-M&M mascot, Pretzel Guy, who "supporting" him and offering helpful advice as he hates the idea of having a pretzel put inside his body.

Other mascots that were introduced, but no longer used, are Almond, the original green guy; Orange, a female peanut character, Chocolate Bar; the first non-M&M character that always gets foil or out done by Red and Yellow by being melted when M&M's can't, and the Swarmees for M&M's Minis candies, which are portrayed as destructive yet crafty troublemakers who Red and Yellow are always trying unsuccessfully to contain.

Female M&M's mascots were introduced in 1995. Green was the milk chocolate mascot and Tan was the peanut. Marketing discontinued Tan when they introduced the then new Blue mascot. Green was the only female M&M's mascot from her introduction in 1995 until 2012, when M&M's unveiled a new additional spokescandy, the businesslike Ms. Brown (voiced by Vanessa Williams), the "Chief Chocolate Officer."[31] She made her debut in a Super Bowl XLVI advertisement, where several people at a party assume she is naked because her shell is the same color as her insides, which causes Red to remove his outer shell thinking "it's that kind of party", and start dancing to "I'm Sexy And I Know It" by LMFAO.

In early 1995, Mars ran a promotion in which consumers were invited to vote on which of blue, pink, or purple would replace the tan M&M's. Blue was the winner, replacing tan in the fall of 1995. Consumers could vote by calling 1-800-FUN-COLOR. Ads for the new blue colors featured a plain and an almond blue M&M character as Red and Yellow take notice of trying to do takes in the commercial by painting themselves blue where they appear on stage with B.B. King singing the blues, but the filmmakers had to cut the scene as they were not the real blue M&M's; another featured Red and Yellow holding their breath to look like the new blue M&M's, where Steven Weber sees the three M&M's, Red, Yellow, and Blue; and one more featuring Weber talking to the blue M&M if he had dived into the chocolate pool, but did not.

In 2002, Mars solicited votes in their first ever "M&M's Global Color Vote" to add a new color from three choices: aqua (turquoise), pink, and purple. This time, purple won and was featured for a limited time. To help the colors get votes, Ken Schrader and his MB2 Motorsports team, who was sponsored by M&M's at the time, ran four paint schemes during the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season representing the promotion (one for aqua, one for pink, one for purple, and another one with all three colors on the car.) Specially marked packages of M&M's were released in Japan. If you happened to find all purple M&M's in a bag you won 100 million yen (equivalent to approximately $852,000).

On January 1, 2004, at the stroke of midnight, Mars removed all of the colors of M&M's and made them black-and-white on both their candies and the packaging. It coincided with a commercial parodying The Wizard of Oz where Dorothy is home in bed and looks out of the window and sees what the colors of the four M&M's were. The goal was to help the M&M's find their colors in black-and-white packages of M&M's, in this order: brown, orange, red, green, yellow, and blue. After all of the colors have been found, the colored packaging returned, and began carrying the theme "Chocolate is better in color".

Since 2004 M&M's have been available online in 17 colors, with personalized phrases on each candy on the opposite side from the "m".[32] Released around Christmas, these custom-printed M&M's were originally intended for holiday greetings, but are now available all year round.

For the 2008 Valentine's Day season, Mars introduced all-green bags of M&M's. This was due to common urban folklore that says green M&M's are an aphrodisiac.[33] They were brought back for 2009 alongside the "Ms. Green Heats Up Valentine's Day" contest.

In October 2011, Mars released M&M's White ChocolateCandy Corn exclusively in the United States for Halloween. These candies come in three candy-corn inspired colors: white, bright yellow, and bright orange.

The following is a summary of the changes to the colors of the flagship (milk chocolate) flavor of M&M's, the only filling manufactured continuously since the beginning of the brand. From 1941 until 1969, each package contained M&M's in five different colors; when red M&M's were reintroduced in 1987, they were added as a sixth color instead of replacing any of the existing colors.

Red candies were eliminated in 1976[34] because of health concerns over the dye amaranth (FD&C Red #2), which was a suspected carcinogen, and were replaced with orange-colored candies. This was done despite the fact that M&M's did not contain the dye; the action was purely to satisfy worried consumers. Red candies were reintroduced ten years later, but they also kept the orange colored M&M's. Paul Hethmon, then a student at University of Tennessee, started the campaign to bring back red M&M's as a joke that would eventually become a worldwide phenomenon.[35]

^Snopes: Taking it E.T.
"Business by its very nature is cut-throat; competitors rarely aid one another because one company's success almost invariably comes at the expense of the other's vitality. When such leg-ups occur, they are often inadvertent — the result of one firm's having failed to take advantage of an opportunity that its competitor later cleaned up on. Such was the case when Mars, Inc. passed on the chance for its flagship product, M&Ms, to be the candy used in 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Its turn-down cleared the way for Hershey Foods Corporation to make a remarkable splash for its Reese's Pieces."